After latest defeat, who should Amir Khan fight next?

Amir Khan (31-4) dared to be great but fell short in his attempt at moving up two weight classes following a sixth round KO at the hands of the WBC and Ring lineal middleweight world champion, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1) last weekend.

Most viewers had Khan 4-1 up, with many experts and Khan's former coach Freddie Roach stating he had, in fact, won the opening five rounds.

However, it was clear to see as the fight wore on Canelo was able to find his range and land body shots which clearly slowed Khan down. It was these body shots which were used as a disguise to land that devastating one punch KO midway through the sixth round.

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Although Khan handled the left hooks from the previous round well, the sheer leverage Canelo managed to put behind that right hand was too much for Khan. It is arguable that most fighters moving up by as much as Khan did would not be able to take such a devastating shot.

Although the ending did not come as a surprise to many as it was always going to be a daunting task, Khan managed to showcase his boxing skills which left Canelo chasing shadows for most of the opening few rounds.

His crisp combinations and ever effective jab, alongside the speed he carried to the weight ,highlighted the fact he is still a force to be reckoned with within the sport.

What next?

Khan stated post-fight that he will move back down in weight; so here are two names the boxing world could see him in against by the end of the year:

Danny Garcia

The rematch with Garcia (32-0) has been on the cards for a while now. As stated by the WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán, Khan was and still remains the 147lbs mandatory for Garcia's WBC title even though he challenged for the 160lbs title.

Khan has continually stated his desire to avenge his loss against Garcia from back in 2013; a fight he was clearly in control off before a lapse in concentration lead to the devastating left hook by Garcia in round 3, which subsequently lead to the stoppage in round 4.

Garcia has recently stated that it would be 'stupid' of Khan to take the rematch following his KO loss to Canelo but, as is always the case with Khan, if he can avoid being hit with unnecessary shots it should be a comfortable night for the Bolton-native, who has arguably improved since their last meeting.

Garcia's controversial wins against both Lamont Peterson (34-3-1) and Mauricio Herrera (22-6) - both questionable decisions to say the least - are fights Khan can take a lot of hope out of as they highlighted Garcia’s vulnerability to offensive styles.

However, his power and timing were clear to see in his step up in weight. The fights with former world champions, Paulie Malignaggi (35-7) and Robert Guerrero (33-4-1) saw Garcia produce impressive performances which would give him confidence going into a potential rematch with Khan.

Miguel Cotto

The rugged Puerto Rican veteran that is Cotto (40-5) has been out of the ring since his one-sided defeat to Canelo last November. The

The former four-weight world champion still remains one of boxing's biggest names and would definitely step in with another global name like Khan; a fight which would generate a generous pay day for both following Khan's recent exposure on HBO PPV and ever growing US popularity.

Khan has the ability to out box Cotto but, as always, the question will be whether he can keep the distance from an inevitable onslaught from Cotto.

The potential fight would most likely be made at a catch weight of 150-152lbs as Cotto has been fighting up at the 154-155lbs region for a while now and would not drain down to 147lbs.

Following on from his loss to Canelo, Khan stated he would love to bring a name like Cotto's over to the UK. However, that would be unlikely as Cotto would state he is the ‘A’ side in such a bout and will not travel to the UK. But any venue in the US would hold such an incisive bout and Khan would happily fight over in the US once again.

Whoever the opponent may be, Khan has disregarded all calls for him to retire and the boxing world will be anxious to see who he fights next. He has stated his desire to keep fighting well-known names and, with Kell Brook lurking beneath his shadow, that is a name we can for sure cross off the list as his career has somewhat stalled since he became a world champion.

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